The synth-pop and electro veteran will be posting in-the-studio videos as part of a PledgeMusic campaign for his 21st album

Gary Numan has never been one to shy away from breaking new ground, as anyone who’s old enough to remember Are ‘Friends’ Electric? winging in from outer space will testify! And now he’s got his innovating hat back on, announcing that his next album will be made in full view of his fans, by way of a PledgeMusic campaign.

Numan explains how it’s all going to work in the video you can watch below. But for anyone reading this on the bus and keen to conserve their data allowance, he says in part: “Making an album is often a long and tortuous process. As a fan you usually just get the finished product, an album slickly packaged, professional and shrink-wrapped for your pleasure. But you miss entirely the journey it took to get that finished product to you. I’d like to change that. With my new album, the 21st of my career, I would like to involve you from the very beginning. I want you to be a witness to the entire process, from the very first note played, through every up and down as the days unfold, as each song comes together, as each lyric takes shape and as the first glimmer of art design comes into my head. Some days will be good, ideas will flow easily and I will be happy and excited. Other days will be awful, and I will be miserable and fighting yet another fight in a lifelong battle with confidence, or the lack of it. But this is the process. As a songwriter, as an artist, you struggle with a wide range of demons.

“I will record regular updates, some audio, some video,” he continues. “You will hear snippets of songs as they progress from first note to finished versions. You will hear me explain how I write and I will guide you through my entire process from beginning to end. When you pre-order the album, not only will you receive the new music and exclusive items when the album is ready, you’ll also have intimate access to the making of it from beginning to end. Hopefully, when the shrink wrapped album is eventually in your hands, you will feel a closer connection to it than any other album I’ve ever made.”

To sign up to support the project and so access the updates, hit up PledgeMusic.